If you’re looking for excellent craft beer brewed by a guy who knows the trade, look no further than the selections being offered by Kyle McDonald, the brewmaster of Harvest Moon Brewery & Café in New Brunswick.

After growing up in Iowa and following a convoluted path to success, McDonald has found a home at 392 George Street and is brewing some of the finest craft beer in New Jersey, including Harvest Hefeweizen, Full Moon Pale Ale, Paddy’s Irish Stout and Monkey Shine Weizen Bock.

McDonald grew up as many of us did; surrounded by inexpensive, mass-produced American beer. But while partaking in a foreign exchange program in high school and spending six weeks in Germany, McDonald fell in love with German beer styles.

“That was when I first really got exposed to good beer. We were drinking a lot of different kristalweizen, Berliner weisse, altbiers and Munich lagers,” McDonald said. “For my senior year we had to write a research paper and I wrote mine on German beer, with special permission from the principal because I was under age.”

Upon returning to Iowa and graduating high school, McDonald attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. He then spent time working in various restaurants before finding a job at the kitchen of a brewpub.

“I kind of harassed the brewers every day for about two or three months until they gave me a job cleaning kegs,” McDonald said. “I just asked more questions and they started showing me more stuff about the equipment.”

After the assistant brewer left the brewpub, McDonald took over the position in the fall of 2006. He stayed there for a year, and then relocated to New Jersey in December 2007 and took over the assistant brewer position at Harvest Moon. It would be another short-lived tenure as assistant for McDonald, who became the brewmaster at Harvest Moon last May.

McDonald says he is free to brew any style he wants, but maintains an approach of quality above quantity.

“I’m less focused on how many beers we have on tap than having all the beers we have on tap being of a certain quality, which is a little bit problematic because we’re one of the busiest brewpubs in New Jersey,” McDonald said.

He wasn’t kidding. At the beginning of the homebrewers meeting, there were nine beers on tap. By the meeting’s end, that had been shortened to eight.

“With the tank space we have and the volume of business we do, that means we will have maybe only five beers to offer sometimes,” McDonald said.

McDonald has faced some criticism for his method, but says that his quality-above-quantity approach is something Harvest Moon’s owner and management are in full support of.

“If someone has one of these beers, my name is associated with it,” McDonald said. “So for me it’s all about quality.”

Harvest Moon’s beer portfolio can largely depend on the brewmaster’s mood, but it maintains a seasonal approach, featuring dark beers in the colder months and lighter beers in the warmer months. As for McDonald’s preferred style, like many craft-beer loving Americans, he’s a hophead, but to a certain extent.

“I enjoy the hoppy beers,” McDonald said. “Our Full Moon Pale Ale could probably be considered an India pale ale, but at the same time I’m not as big of a fan of the double India pale ales. It has to be somewhat balanced. I don’t want to feel like I just got punched in the face.”

As far as what new beers are on the horizon for Harvest Moon, a new barley wine should be up and running this week. Beyond that, spring seems like it will be a time for some new experiments. McDonald plans to brew both a maibock and saison towards the end of April, and the saison might be brewed in multiple batches for availability throughout the summer. McDonald also plans on making some chocolate-infused beers, though he has yet to work with chocolate.

“I might make an all-malt chocolate porter, because you can get some good chocolate flavors out of darker malts,” McDonald said. “I also might make a chocolate tripel, which would be lighter colored, so I would have to use real chocolate or cocoa nibs.”

Though exploring a broader range of styles is part of McDonald’s ambitions, he understands that making beer accessible to a broad clientele is equally as important.

“If it were up to me, we would never have the same beer on tap,” McDonald said. “But at the same time it’s about having the right lineup of beers that will draw in both people who are beer savvy and people who might not know as much about beer.”

On the night of this interview, I was lucky enough to take part in a homebrewers meeting before speaking with McDonald. On the first Monday of each month, an assortment of homebrewers gathers on the top floor of Harvest Moon to socialize and share their creations with fellow brewers. After almost everyone shared their home-brewed creations, McDonald offered a homebrew of his own; his oaked pumpkin stout, which was very worthy of positioning among Harvest Moon’s beer selection. In addition to the evident pumpkin flavor and aroma, it had a wonderful range of spice-infused notes, including cinnamon and nutmeg. The mouthfeel was decadently smooth, leading to an oaky finish.

Then, McDonald generously offered a pitcher of one of Harvest Moon’s best, the Monkey Shine Weizen Bock, which was outstanding. The aroma consisted of banana, clove and dark fruit, such as raisins and figs. The taste followed the nose, with perhaps some butterscotch, citrus flavors and roasted grain making an appearance. The beer’s high alcohol content is masked beautifully by a wide range of delicious flavor and a fruity finish.

With beers such as these leading the charge, it’s clear that Harvest Moon’s beer is on the upswing under the guidance of their new brewmaster. Whether you’re a seasoned craft beer veteran or you’re just starting to gain an appreciation for different beer styles, Harvest Moon has what you’re looking for, and is firmly establishing itself as one of the hubs of New Jersey craft beer.

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